After three years of campaigning, New York’s fast food workers are getting exactly what they wanted: A $15 an hour minimum wage.

The boost comes as a result of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to convene a Wage Board, which has the power to set a new minimum for the fast food industry’s 200,000 workers in New York without the approval of the state legislature. On Wednesday, the Board recommended that the new floor be phased in, rising to $15 by the end of 2018 in New York City, and July of 2021 for the rest of the state.

The three-member board arrived at its decision after listening to hours of emotional testimony from workers, unions, and business owners who described both the difficulty of working for the current state minimum wage, and the potential impact of raising it dramatically. The increase still has to go through a comment period and a regulatory process at the state’s Department of Labor before becoming final.

OK, so it may not technically be final yet, but at least their dignity has been restored:

“Finally I’ll be able to move out of poverty.” NY fast food workers excited to live beyond basic survival w/ $15 wage http://t.co/xg4CrIh7QT